Where was Liverpool FC's scouting network when Vardy was coming through?

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: Jamie Vardy (C) of Leicester City scores his team's second goal past Simon Mignolet of Liverpool during the Barclays Premier League match between Leicester City and Liverpool at The King Power Stadium on February 2, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Vardy reminds me of me – and there's no higher praise than that!

Like everyone, I've been absolutely blown away by what Jamie Vardy has achieved at Leicester this season.

What a campaign that lad is having, and what a goal he produced against us on Tuesday. Top class.

Vardy reminds me of myself. He's an absolute pest, he wants to fight everybody on the pitch every game, and he is always on the shoulder of defenders, asking them questions. There's not much of him, but boy does he put himself about! You don't get a minute's peace with him.

And as he's shown this season, he's a great finisher too. You can see the confidence oozing out of him, it's great to see.

I honestly can't say enough good things about him. And speaking of Daniel Sturridge, he must be looking round at Vardy and thinking 'I've got a fight on my hands if I want to play for England.' Vardy is the man in form, and he's laid down the gauntlet to Sturridge, Rooney, Kane and co this season.

I know it's a simplistic thing to say, but I do wonder where was Liverpool's network when Vardy was emerging? This lad has come from non-League football, and then from Fleetwood Town, just up the road. Liverpool missed out there, but then so did a lot of clubs.

Good on Leicester for taking the punt. They haven't half been rewarded.

Liverpool waiting for Sturridge to rescue them... again

Well, we've been here before haven't we?

Daniel Sturridge is due to return to training this week, and once again Liverpool are right back at square one – hoping he can come and save them.

We had it all through last season, when he had setback after setback. We sat and we waited and we hoped, and it never really happened.

Now, a year on we are in the same boat again. Liverpool have spent money, they've changed manager, they've looked for solutions but they haven't been able to fix the big problem. They can't score goals.

Jurgen Klopp was right to say that, against Leicester, we had lots of the ball and lots of opportunities to make the right pass in and around the box which we didn't take. But is that a new problem? Absolutely not. It's been that way all season.

After 24 league games, Liverpool have a negative goal difference. They don't create clear-cut chances, they don't stretch the game or threaten teams in behind, and they don't look like they believe in their ability to score goals and win games. With the exception of Norwich, which was a crazy game against a poor team, we have barely created anything of late.

Sturridge, if he was to return at anything like his best level, would fix that. But how big is that 'if'?

It annoyed me watching the Leicester game, and watching Robert Huth and Wes Morgan have a comfortable night's work.

How do you worry those two? By running beyond them and asking questions of them. How often did Liverpool do that? Everything was in front of Leicester's defence, everything was easy for them.

I'm like anyone, I want to see Sturridge back on that pitch and doing his thing. There are big games coming up in the cups, and a European Championships at the end of the season. He must want a piece of that.

God knows, Liverpool need him to come back quickly. Again.

Nobody at Liverpool can moan that Klopp hasn't given them a chance

The replay will be a very tough proposition, but I thought we did OK with a much-changed side against West Ham last weekend.

One thing you have to say about Jurgen Klopp is that he's given everybody, but everybody, a chance to prove themselves.

Some have taken that chance – I like what I've seen Sheyi Ojo and Cameron Brannagan, certainly – while others you would expect to be moved on in the summer, as we enter into yet another 'transitional' phase.

It's good to see young players being offered the opportunity to further their claims, and in pretty significant games too.

And hey, you could argue that one or two of them should be given the chance to step out of the cup team and into the league line-up soon.

Sunderland plan is simple; stop Defoe

You just don't fancy Liverpool to go and win games comfortably, home or away, at the moment do you? And with Sam Allardyce's side fighting for everything at the bottom of the table, it won't be a pretty contest this weekend, you can be certain of that.

Liverpool's job is simple; stop Jermain Defoe.

He's their man threat, their only real threat if we're honest. He's a goalscorer – dare I say, the type Liverpool could use at the moment.

They'll play for set-plays, as Allardyce's sides always do, and Liverpool need to make sure they deal with those.

Simple, eh?

An SOS to Klopp....PLEASE sort out those corners

A dozen corners, eight in the first half alone. And what did they produce? The sum total of nothing.

I've been saying this all season, how can we not sort out or delivery from set pieces?

This is my SOS call to Jurgen and co, it needs fixing. We haven't scored off a corner since Southampton at the start of December – and even that was a cleared cross which was sent back in.